Current solutions to the management of security risks on the Worldwide Web/Public Internet have proven to be inadequate. Recent scenarios and breaches have projected economic losses of hundreds of millions of dollars and caused the disclosure of private information essential to many corporations and millions of individuals.
For example, on 8 Jul. 2015, the University of Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies and the Lloyd's of London insurance market outlined an electricity-blackout scenario that would leave 93 million people in New York City and Washington D.C. without power. A likely version of the scenario estimates the impact on the U.S. economy to be $243 billion. However, the most extreme version of the attack could shut down parts of the United States power grid for almost a month and raise long-term legal and environmental issues that could cost as much as $1 trillion to the U.S. economy over a five year time span. These estimates are more than mere speculation because there have been, according to the report, at least 15 suspected cyber-attacks on the U.S. electricity grid since 2000.
A day later, on 9 Jul. 2015, the U.S. Office of Personnel Administration announced that 21.5 million people were swept up in a colossal breach of government computer systems that resulted in the theft of a vast trove of personal information, including Social Security numbers and some fingerprints.